Peruvian Air Force pilot shoots at UFO.

Has the pilot mentioned whether or not the plane even had a gun camera? Do we know whether or not that model of Soviet plane deployed in Peru normally
had a functioning gun camera in those days?

Hey mate, there's some info here about the aircraft but it doesn't specifically mention gun
cameras, it does states that there are tactical reconnaissance versions available though and considering the aircraft can be equipped with rocket
pods, cluster bombs, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons I don't think it's too much of a stretch to imagine they may also be equipped with gun camera
- as for the authorities claiming that the gun camera was not operational, film overexposed etc.. yes I suppose that's always a handy get out clause
if you don't want to release any gun camera UFO footage (which they never have).

Originally posted by SLAYER69This case was covered on UFO Hunters. If anybody is interested here is the episode. 1 of 5.

UFO Hunters - UFO Dogfights (Hostile Presence) 1/5

Hola Slayer, like the new avatar mate - here's a new address for that episode.

Originally posted by dragonsmusic
That's pretty amazing. It baffles me that things like this take place and still the majority of people seem to resist the idea of UFO's being
anything other than weatherballoons. SnF

I have talked to people who will argue all day that these pilots are simply making it all up for a joke, and they aren't interested in the radar or
corroborating visual sightings, etc. I simply don't discuss the topic with them anymore since it troubles them.

Originally posted by karl 12
Very interesting testimony from Peruvian Air Force Commander Oscar Alfonso Huertas who describes an encounter with an unidentified object whilst
flying his Sukhoi S-22 jet over La Joya Military Base in 1980 - he states he was ordered to open fire on the object and shot 64 explosive shells at
it with little or no effect - he then goes on to give a description of the object and explain how it performed evasive manoeuvres.

--- snip ---

Great thread Karl. Hueartas is also one of the contributors to Leslie Kean's book. There is one great scene described in the book that I remember how
Huertas and pilot general Parvis Jafari (from classical Iran 1976 aeronautical case) met prior to NPC 2007 conference. They met for the first time and
started to exchange details about their experience.

Also, few years ago I did find audio intervierw (or maybe 2 can't remember) with Huertas on spanish-language radio station. Have it somewhere in my
archives. I do recall interesting Spanish-based sites about that incident.

I have talked to people who will argue all day that these pilots are simply making it all up for a joke, and they aren't interested in the radar or
corroborating visual sightings, etc. I simply don't discuss the topic with them anymore since it troubles them.

Yes mate, I think we've all met people like that.

Originally posted by uforadio

Hueartas is also one of the contributors to Leslie Kean's book. There is one great scene described in the book that I remember how Huertas and pilot
general Parvis Jafari (from classical Iran 1976 aeronautical case) met prior to NPC 2007 conference. They met for the first time and started to
exchange details about their experience.

Uforadio, would certainly like to have been a fly on the wall in that conversation mate -I bet it was a pretty colourful discussion and it looks like
the U.S. Government were also extremely interested as there are official documents about both pilot UFO cases (despite them completely denying having
an interest in the UFO subject for the last 44 years).

Below are some excerpts from Leslie Kean's book about the Peruvian case and for folks who haven't read it then 'UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and
Government Officials Go on the Record' has now been made available on pdf format
here with Chapter 9 describing the Iranian incident and Chapter 10 focusing on the Huertas case.

Object:

This "balloon" was in restricted air space without authorization, representing a grave challenge to national sovereignty. All civilian and
military pilots use aerial charts on which highly protected airspace, such as that over our base, is clearly marked. They all know where these
restricted areas are located, and no one ever flies in them, under any circumstances. This thing had not only appeared in such an area, but it was not
replying to communications sent on universally recognized frequencies, and it was moving toward the base.

Opens Fire:

After takeoff, I made a turn to the right and reached an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,500 meters). I then positioned myself for the attack.
Zeroing in on the balloon, I reached the necessary distance and shot a burst of sixty-four 30 mm shells, which created a cone-shaped "wall of fire"
that would normally obliterate anything in its path. Some of the projectiles deviated from the target, falling to the ground, and others hit it with
precision. I thought that the balloon would then be torn open and gases would start pouring out of it.

But nothing happened. It seemed as if the huge bullets were absorbed by the balloon, and it wasn't damaged at all. Then suddenly the object began to
ascend very rapidly and head away from the base. "What is going on here?" I thought to myself. "I have to get closer to it." So I headed up. I
initiated a chase by activating the afterburner of my plane, and reported to the control tower that I intended to follow procedures and continue the
task of bringing down the object

Evasive Maneuvers:

My jet flew at a speed of 600 mph (950 km/hr) and the "balloon" remained about 1,600 feet (500 meters) in front of me. As we got farther from
the base, I reported to the control tower information such as "I am at three thousand meters of altitude and twenty kilometers from the base ... I am
at six thousand meters of altitude and forty kilometers from the base ..." and so on. By this time I was over the city of Camana, which was about
fifty-two miles (eighty-four kilometers) from the base, flying at 36,000 feet (11,000 meters).

I was in full pursuit of the object, when it came to a sudden stop and forced me to veer to the side. I made a turn upward to the right and tried to
position myself for another shot. Once I obtained the desired position to fire, which was approximately 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) from the object, I
began closing in on it until I had it in perfect sight. I locked on the target and was ready to shoot. But just at that moment, the object made
another fast climb, evading the attack. I was left underneath it; it "broke the attack."

I attempted this same attack maneuver two more times. Each time, I had the object on target when it was stationary. And each time, the object escaped
by ascending vertically seconds before I started to fire. It eluded
my attack three times, each time at the very last moment.

Throughout this time I was very focused on trying to achieve my window of about 1,300 to 2,300 feet (400 to 700 meters) distance, which was
where I had to position my plane in order to shoot. As this became less possible, I was very surprised and kept asking myself what was going on. Then
it became a personal thing for me. I had to get it. But I couldn't because it would always ascend. I was committed to this mission, and felt I must
succeed. This was all that mattered, and I felt confident knowing I had an outstanding airplane.

Eventually, as a result of this series of rapid movements upward, the object ended up at an altitude of 46,000 feet (14,000 meters). I had to think of
something else to do! I decided to make a bold ascent with my plane so that this time I would be above the object, and then I would come down on it
vertically and initiate an attack from above. This way, if the object began to ascend as in the previous three attempts, it would not leave my target
range and it would be easier for me to fire. I was not concerned about any collision because of the agility and maneuverability of my plane.

So I accelerated my plane at supersonic speed and went back to where the "balloon" was, by this time traveling at a speed of Mach 1.6, which is
approximately 1,150 mph (1,850 km/hr). I calculated the distance between the object and myself as I began to make the ascent. As I went higher, I saw
that the object was in fact under me and I thought I would be able to gain the necessary altitude to pull off the maneuver as planned, and succeed in
the attack. But to my surprise, the object ascended once again at a high speed and placed itself next to me in parallel formation! This left me
without any possibility of attack.

Flying at Mach 1.2, I continued with my ascent, still hoping to pass above it in order to initiate the attack I had planned. But I couldn't. We
reached an altitude of 63,000 feet (19,200 meters or 19 kilometers), and suddenly the thing completely stopped and remained stationary. I adjusted the
wings of my plane to 30 degrees and extended its slats so that the plane would be able to maneuver at that height, and I thought I could still attempt
to target the object in order to fire.

Full account at link.

Originally posted by uforadio

Also, few years ago I did find audio intervierw (or maybe 2 can't remember) with Huertas on spanish-language radio station. Have it somewhere in my
archives. I do recall interesting Spanish-based sites about that incident.

Hey mate, I'm learning Spanish at the mo so that really would be some nice practice material.

Colonel Huerta has also been testifying at the
National Press Club this week and there's some good pics I hadn't seen about the incident in the article below.

Peruvian Jet Pilot Tells of Tangle With UFO (+Photos)

He shot 60 rounds at close range with no impact

La Joya Air Base at Arequipa Peru showing the position of the balloon like object witnessed on April 11, 1980.

The path Col. Huerta took in approaching the UFO above his military base.

The unidentified craft ascended about 50 miles from base.

The trajectory and speed of Col. Huerta's jet during the close encounter with the UFO.

'UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record' has now been made available on pdf format
here with Chapter 9 describing the Iranian incident and Chapter 10 focusing on the Huertas case.

Unfortunately that pdf link has now been taken down and there's no other E-book copies available (that I could find anyway) - the book does contain
some very interesting information though and it's also mentioned that there was an immediate briefing after the incident with the pilot, General,
Operations Personnel, Air Defense and Base Defense as the base's defense system had been activated to 'high alert' status - apparently "what
happened in the meeting was to remain there and not be divulged at any time".

As well as the potential of missing gun camera footage there's also the subject of the control tower transmission recordings that have never been
released by the Peruvian Military - in the book Huertes mentions that he radioed the control tower to describe the object and specifically states at
the beginning of the intercept flight that he made sure the tape recorders on the aircraft were working because he knew this was an extremely unusual
mission.

Also brought up was the fact that the UFO never registered on the base's radar screens even though the radar operators on the ground could clearly
see the object in the sky at the time (which they described it as metallic and spherical).

Does anyone who had initial concerns about the flight ceiling of the aircraft have any further comments to make in light of the images and new
information posted (the Kevin Randle link above also goes into more detail about the pilot's use of afterburners)?

...and it looks like the U.S. Government were also extremely interested as there are official documents about both pilot UFO cases (despite them
completely denying having an interest in the UFO subject for the last 44 years).

That interest was also there during NPC 2007 conference. If you are interested in more details let me know. Best regards Karl.

...and it looks like the U.S. Government were also extremely interested as there are official documents about both pilot UFO cases (despite them
completely denying having an interest in the UFO subject for the last 44 years).

That interest was also there during NPC 2007 conference. If you are interested in more details let me know. Best regards Karl.

Uforadio, sure am interested in those details buddy and I really don't see how governments cannot be interested in UFO cases like this (no
matter how much they pretend otherwise).
Cheers.

Originally posted by yeti101
so wheres the photos, video , radio communications you know Evidence? Peru hiding it? 2 hours nobody got a telescope and took a photo? The peruvian
gvt may have the best evidence ever in their possesion.

Looks like the disclosure crowd have been harassing the wrong government all this time.

'UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record' has now been made available on pdf format
here with Chapter 9 describing the Iranian incident and Chapter 10 focusing on the Huertas case.

Unfortunately that pdf link has now been taken down and there's no other E-book copies available (that I could find anyway) - the book does contain
some very interesting information though and it's also mentioned that there was an immediate briefing after the incident with the pilot, General,
Operations Personnel, Air Defense and Base Defense as the base's defense system had been activated to 'high alert' status - apparently "what
happened in the meeting was to remain there and not be divulged at any time".

Here's another link to Leslie Kean's great book 'UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record':

The South American Continent , with it's huge desert, mountains, jungles.. there must be something that caused all these highly dangerous South
American UFO Encounter..

Yes indeed mate - don't know what that something is though (maybe nobody knows what it is).

Plenty of incredibly strange South American UFO encounters down the years and I know from your great posts
here about the Colares incidents that some objects were witnessed
submerging into (and emerging from) the sea - I don't know if you've seen it but SkyFloating once made an awesome thread on the subject and there
are so many global accounts of this happening that I'd say the world's oceans definitely play a part in the UFO subject somewhere.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.